Content recommendation system, content recommendation method, and information storage medium

ABSTRACT

A content recommendation system includes: an attribute value storage means which stores one or more attribute values of attributes for each content; a preference distribution storage means which stores a user preference degree for each attribute value; an attribute value acquisition means which acquires an attribute value of at least one attribute for each content; a preference distribution update means which updates the storage contents in the preference distribution storage means in accordance with the acquired attribute value; a condition determination means which selects an attribute value of one or more attributes in accordance with probability based on the user preference degree stored in the preference distribution storage means and determines the condition of the attribute value of the one or more attributes in accordance with the selected attribute value; and a content selection means which selects some or all of the contents in accordance with the determined condition.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This is application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 13/059,644, filed on Feb. 18, 2011 (now allowed), which is a 371 ofPCT/JP2009/065445, filed on Sep. 3, 2009, which claims priority to Japan2008-229112, filed on Sep. 5, 2008. The disclosure of theabove-referenced applications is expressly incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a content recommendation system, acontent recommendation method, a content recommendation apparatus, aprogram, and an information storage medium, and more particularly to acontent recommendation technique.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, a user can enjoy a desired content chosen from among anenormous number of contents using a communication network such as theInternet. Since there are an enormous number of available contents,various kinds of recommendation techniques have been suggested. Forexample, a technique for searching a type of a content preferred by auser and presenting the found content to the user is known (see JapanesePatent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-58947).

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

However, a user does not necessarily prefer only one type of content,and may enjoy multiple types of contents with a certain ratio. Forexample, a user who usually enjoys rock music may sometimes enjoyclassical music.

The present invention is made in view of the above issues, and it is anobject of the present invention to provide a content recommendationsystem, a content recommendation method, a program, and an informationstorage medium capable of recommendation various types of contents so asto satisfy a variety of preferences of a user.

Solution to Problem

In order to solve the above issues, a content recommendation systemaccording to the present invention includes an attribute value storagemeans for storing an attribute value of each of one or a plurality ofattributes for each of a plurality of contents, a preferencedistribution storage means for storing a degree of user's preferencewith respect to each attribute value for each of the attributes, anattribute value acquisition means for obtaining an attribute value of atleast one attribute for each of one or more contents owned by a user, apreference distribution update means for updating a content stored inthe preference distribution storage means, based on the attribute valueobtained by the attribute value acquisition means, a conditiondetermining means for selecting attribute values of one or moreattributes according to a probability based on the degree of user'spreference stored in the preference distribution storage means, anddetermining a condition for the attribute values of one or moreattributes according to the selected attribute value, a contentselection means for selecting some or all of the plurality of contentsaccording to the condition determined by the condition determiningmeans, and a content presenting means for presenting the contentsselected by the content selection means to the user.

Further, a content recommendation method according to the presentinvention includes an attribute value obtaining step for obtaining anattribute value of at least one attribute for each of one or morecontents owned by a user, a preference distribution update step forupdating a content stored in a preference distribution storage meansstoring a degree of user's preference with respect to each attributevalue for each of one or more attributes of a content, based on theattribute value obtained in the attribute value acquisition step, acondition determining step for selecting attribute values of one or moreattributes according to a probability based on the degree of user'spreference stored in the preference distribution storage means, anddetermining a condition for the attribute values of one or moreattributes according to the selected attribute value, a contentselection step for selecting some or all of the plurality of contentsaccording to the condition determined in the condition determining step,and a content presenting step for presenting the contents selected inthe content selection step to the user.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the attribute valueacquisition means obtains at least one attribute value of the attributefor each content stored in association with the user in thepredetermined computer.

Further, a content recommendation apparatus according to the presentinvention includes a preference distribution storage means for storing adegree of user's preference with respect to each attribute value of anattribute of a content, an attribute value acquisition means forobtaining attribute values of attributes for each of one or morecontents owned by a user, a preference distribution update means forupdating a content stored in the preference distribution storage means,based on the attribute value obtained by the attribute value acquisitionmeans, an attribute value selection means for selecting attribute valuesof attributes according to a probability based on the degree of user'spreference stored in the preference distribution storage means, and alist acquisition means for obtaining a list of contents selected fromamong a plurality of contents according to a condition based on theattribute values of the attributes selected by the attribute valueselection means.

Further, a content recommendation method according to the presentinvention includes an attribute value obtaining step for obtaining anattribute value of a predetermined attribute for each of one or morecontents owned by a user, a preference distribution update step forupdating a content stored in a preference distribution storage meansstoring a degree of user's preference with respect to each attributevalue of the attribute, based on the attribute value obtained by anattribute value acquisition means, an attribute value selection step forselecting the attribute values of the attributes according to aprobability based on the degree of user's preference stored in thepreference distribution storage means, and a list acquisition step forobtaining a list of contents selected from among a plurality of contentsaccording to a condition based on the attribute values of the attributesselected in the attribute value selection step.

Further, a program according to the present invention causes a computerto function as: a preference distribution storage means for storing adegree of user's preference with respect to each attribute value of anattribute of a content; an attribute value acquisition means forobtaining attribute values of attributes for each of one or morecontents owned by a user; a preference distribution update means forupdating a content stored in the preference distribution storage means,based on the attribute value obtained by the attribute value acquisitionmeans; an attribute value selection means for selecting attribute valuesof attributes according to a probability based on the degree of user'spreference stored in the preference distribution storage means; and alist acquisition means for obtaining a list of contents selected fromamong a plurality of contents according to a condition based on theattribute values of the attributes selected by the attribute valueselection means.

Further, an information storage medium according to the presentinvention, stores a program for causing a computer to function as: apreference distribution storage means for storing a degree of user'spreference with respect to each attribute value of an attribute of acontent; an attribute value acquisition means for obtaining attributevalues of attributes for each of one or more contents owned by a user; apreference distribution update means for updating a content stored inthe preference distribution storage means, based on the attribute valueobtained by the attribute value acquisition means; an attribute valueselection means for selecting attribute values of attributes accordingto a probability based on the degree of user's preference stored in thepreference distribution storage means; and a list acquisition means forobtaining a list of contents selected from among a plurality of contentsaccording to a condition based on the attribute values of the attributesselected by the attribute value selection means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram illustrating a contentrecommendation system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram illustrating a server.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an external appearance of agame system used as a user apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a hardware configuration diagram illustrating a game machine.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram illustrating first metadata.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram illustrating second metadata.

FIG. 7 is an operation flow diagram illustrating a contentrecommendation system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram schematically illustrating theme template data.

FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically illustrating theme preferencedistribution data.

FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically illustrating attribute valuepreference distribution data.

FIG. 11 is a configuration diagram illustrating theme group data.

FIG. 12 is a diagram schematically illustrating an attribute valueconversion dictionary.

FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram illustrating a user apparatus.

FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram illustrating a server and adatabase.

FIG. 15 is a modified operation flow diagram illustrating a contentrecommendation system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 16 is an external view illustrating a portable game machine.

FIG. 17 is a hardware configuration diagram illustrating a portable gamemachine.

FIG. 18 is a hardware configuration diagram illustrating ageneral-purpose personal computer.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the present invention will be hereinafter explained indetail with reference to drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram illustrating a contentrecommendation system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. As shown in this figure, this content recommendation system10 is connected to a data communication network 18 such as the Internet,and includes a server 14 (first content recommendation apparatus)capable of mutual data communication and a plurality of user apparatuses12 (second content recommendation apparatus). The server 14 includes adatabase 14 a. For example, the user apparatus 12 may be a computersystem installed in each home such as a personal computer, a computergame system, and a home server, and a portable machine such as aportable game machine. The user apparatus 12 accesses the server 14, andreceives a list of songs recommended to a user of the user apparatus 12.The user apparatus 12 requests the server 14 to provide song dataincluded in the list, receives the song data, and play the songs. On theother hand, for example, the server 14 is constituted by a computersystem such as a known server computer, and transmits, to each userapparatus 12, a list of songs recommended to the user of the userapparatus 12. In addition, the server 14 transmits individual song datain response to a request of each user apparatus 12. In this example, thepresent invention is applied to recommendation of songs. However, thepresent invention is not limited thereto. It is to be understood thatthe present invention may be applied to recommendation of various kindsof contents, e.g., a motion image such as a movie, a still image such asa picture, and a document such as a novel.

FIG. 2 is a figure illustrating an example of hardware configuration ofthe server 14. As shown in this figure, the server 14 includes aprocessor 70, a memory 71, a hard disk drive 73, a medium drive 74, anda communication interface 76, which are connected to a bus 72 so as tomutually exchange data. The memory 71 includes a ROM and a RAM. The ROMstores various kinds of system programs. The RAM is mainly used for awork area of the processor 70. The hard disk drive 73 stores a programfor distributing songs and distributing a list of recommended songs, andthe database 14 a is structured for distributing songs and distributinga list of recommended songs. The medium drive 74 is a device for readingdata stored in a computer-readable medium 75 such as a CD-ROM and aDVD-RAM, or writing data to the computer-readable medium 75. Thecommunication interface 76 controls data communication via thecommunication network 18 with the user apparatus 12. The processor 70controls each unit of the server 14 according to a program stored in thememory 71, the hard disk drive 73, or the medium 75.

Subsequently, the user apparatus 12 will be explained in detail. FIG. 3is an external view illustrating a computer game system used as the userapparatus 12. This computer game system includes a game machine 200, anoperation device 202, and a television monitor 204. The game machine 200is a computer game system, which executes not only game programs butalso various kinds of programs such as a Web browser and movie/musicplayer programs. The program may be read from various kinds ofcomputer-readable media such as various kinds of optical disks, internalor external hard disk drives, and semiconductor memories, or may bedownloaded via a computer network such as the Internet. The operationdevice 202 is wirelessly communicatively connected to the game machine200 or communicatively connected thereto via a wire.

The game machine 200 includes a disk insertion slot 206 compatible withoptical disks, a USB connection terminal 208, and the like. The diskinsertion slot 206 is configured such that optical disks such as a BD(Blu-ray disk, trademark), a DVD-ROM, and a CD-ROM can be loaded in theslot. A touch sensor 210 is used to instruct the game machine 200 tounload a disk. A touch sensor 212 is used to instruct the game machine200 to turn the power on or off. A power switch, an audio and videooutput terminal, an optical digital output terminal, an AC power inputterminal, a LAN connector, an HDMI terminal, and the like (not shown)are provided at the rear side of the game machine 200.

The game machine 200 is also provided with a multimedia slot forreceiving multiple types of detachable semiconductor memories. Multipleslots, not shown, are exposed to receive respectively different types ofsemiconductor memories, when a lid 214 arranged on the front surface ofthe game machine 200 is opened.

The operation device 202 is driven by a not-shown battery, and includesa plurality of buttons and keys with which a user makes operationinputs. When the user operates the buttons and keys on the operationdevice 202, the operation contents are transmitted to the game machine200 wirelessly or by a wire.

The operation device 202 has an arrow key 216, joy sticks 218, and agroup of operation buttons 220. The arrow key 216, the joy sticks 218,and the group of operation buttons 220 are arranged on a top surface 222of the casing. The four types of operation buttons 224, 226, 228, and230 are marked with different symbols in different colors in order todistinguish them from each other. More specifically, the operationbutton 224 is marked with a red circle, the operation button 226 ismarked with a blue cross, the operation button 228 is marked with apurple square, and the operation button 230 is marked with a greentriangle. A rear surface 232 of the casing of the operation device 202is provided with a plurality of LEDs, not shown.

The user holds a left side grip portion 234 b with the left hand, and aright side grip portion 234 a with the right hand when operating theoperation device 202. The arrow key 216, the joy sticks 218, and thegroup of operation buttons 220 are arranged on the top surface 222 ofthe casing so that they can be operated by the user who is holding theleft side grip portion 234 b and the right side grip portion 234 a withthe right and left hands.

An LED button 236 is also provided on the top surface 222 of the casing.The LED button 236 is used, for example, to display a particular menuscreen on the television monitor 204 with the game machine 200. It alsohas the functions of indicating the battery level of the operationdevice 202 with the lighting status of the LED. For example, the LED islit in red during charging, lit in green when fully charged, and blinksin red when the battery level is low.

The arrow key 216 is configured such that it can be pressed in fourdirections, i.e., up, down, right, and left directions, eightdirections, i.e., up, down, right, and left directions and fourdirections therebetween, or in any direction. For example, the arrow key216 is used to move in up, down, right and left directions a cursor on ascreen of the television monitor 204, and scroll various kinds ofinformation on the screen. Respectively different functions areallocated to the group of operation buttons 220 by an applicationprogram.

The joy joystick 218 has a stick supported in such a manner that thestick can be inclined in any direction, and has a sensor for detectingthe amount of inclination. The stick is designed to return to a neutralposition with the aid of an urging means such as a spring. The stickreturns back to the neutral position when not operated. When the stickis inclined, the amounts of inclinations in a plurality of referencedirections are converted into digital values, and the values aretransmitted to the game machine 200 as an operation signal.

The operation device 202 further includes a select button 240, a startbutton 238, and the like. The start button 238 is used, e.g., when theuser instructs the game machine 200 to start a program, andstarts/pauses playing a movie or music. On the other hand, the selectbutton 240 is used, e.g., when the user selects one of items of the menudisplayed on the television monitor 204.

Now, the internal circuit configuration of the game machine 200 will beexplained. As shown in FIG. 4, the game machine 200 includes, as itsprincipal components, a main CPU 300, a GPU (graphic processing unit)302, an input/output processor 304, an optical disk reproduction unit306, a main memory 308, a mask ROM 310, and a sound processor 312. Themain CPU 300 performs signal processing and control of various internalcomponents based on various kinds of programs. The GPU 302 performsimage processing. The input/output processor 304 performs interfacing orprocessing between the GPU 300 and some of the components in theapparatus and components outside of the apparatus. In addition, theinput/output processor 304 may have functions for executing applicationprograms, so that the game machine 200 has compatibility with other gamemachines.

The optical disk reproduction unit 306 reproduces an optical disk, suchas a BD, DVD or CD, storing an application program or multimedia data.The main memory 308 serves as a work area for the main CPU 300 and abuffer for temporarily storing data read from an optical disk. The maskROM 310 stores operating system programs to be executed mainly by themain CPU 300 and the input/output processing unit 304. The soundprocessor 312 performs audio signal processing.

The game machine 200 further includes a CD/DVD/BD processor 314, anoptical disk reproduction driver 316, a mechanical controller 318, ahard disk drive 334, and a card-type connector (e.g., PC card slot) 320.The CD/DVD/BD processor 314 performs, e.g., error correction processing(e.g., CIRC (cross interleave Reed-Solomon coding)), expansion decodingprocessing, and so on, to a disk reproduction signal read from a CD,DVD, or BD by the optical disk reproduction unit 306 and then amplifiedby an RF amplifier 328, thereby reproducing data recorded on the CD,DVD, or BD. The optical disk reproduction driver 316 and the mechanicalcontroller 318 perform rotation control of a spindle motor of theoptical disk reproduction unit 306, focus/tracking control of an opticalpickup, loading control of a disk tray, etc.

For example, the hard disk drive 334 stores saved data for programs andgame programs read by the optical disk reproduction unit 306, or storesdata such as photos, moving images, and music acquired via the input andoutput processor 304. The card-type connector 320 is a connection portfor, e.g., a communication card, an external hard disk drive, or thelike.

These internal components are connected with each other mainly throughbus lines 322, 324, and the like. The main CPU 300 and the GPU 302 areconnected through a dedicated bus. Additionally, the main CPU 300 andthe input/output processor 304 are connected through a high-speed BUS.Likewise, the input/output processor 304, the CD/DVD/BD processor 314,the mask ROM 310, the sound processor 312, the card-type connector 320,and the hard disk drive 334 are connected through the high-speed BUS.

The main CPU 300 executes an operating system program for the main CPU300 stored in the mask ROM 310 to control the operation of the gamemachine 200. Further, the main CPU 300 reads various kinds of programsand other data from an optical disk such as a BD, DVD-ROM, or CD-ROM andloads the programs into the main memory 308. Furthermore, the main CPU300 executes the programs loaded to the main memory 308. Alternatively,the main CPU 300 downloads various kinds of programs and other data viathe communication network, and executed the downloaded programs.

The input/output processor 304 executes an operating system program forthe input/output processor stored in the mask ROM 310 to control datainput/output with the operation device 202, a memory card 326, the USBconnection terminal 208, Ethernet (registered trademark) 330, anIEEE1394 terminal, not shown, and the PC card slot. Data input/outputwith the operation device 202 and the memory card 326 are controlled viathe interface 232 including a multimedia slot and a wirelesscommunication port.

The GPU 302 has a function of a geometry transfer engine for executingcoordinate conversion and so on, and a function of a renderingprocessor. The GPU 302 draws an image in a frame buffer, not shown,according to rendering instructions given by the main CPU 300. Forexample, in the case where programs stored on an optical disk use 3Dgraphics, the GPU 302 calculates, in a geometry operation process, thecoordinates of polygons to constitute a three-dimensional object.Further, the GPU 302 makes, in a rendering process, an image that may beobtained by shooting the three-dimensional object by a virtual camera.The GPU 302 writes the thus obtained image into the frame buffer. TheGPU 302 then outputs a video signal corresponding to the stored image tothe television monitor 204. Thus, an image is displayed on a screen 204b of the television monitor 204.

The sound processor 312 has an ADPCM (Adaptive Differential Pulse CodeModulation) decoding function, an audio signal reproducing function, anda signal modulating function. The ADPCM decoding function is a functionfor generating waveform data from sound data encoded with ADPCM. Theaudio signal reproduction function is a function for generating an audiosignal for, e.g., sound effects, from waveform data stored in a soundbuffer incorporated in or externally connected with the sound processor312. Internal speakers 204 a, 204 a of the television monitor 204 outputsound represented by an audio signal. The signal modulating function isa function for modulating waveform data stored in the sound buffer.

For example, when the game machine 200 is turned on, the operatingsystem programs for the main CPU 300 and the input/output processor 304are read from the mask ROM 310. These operating system programs areexecuted by the main CPU 300 and the input/output processor 304. Thus,the main CPU 300 centrally controls each component of the game machine200. On the other hand, the input/output processor 304 controls signalinput/output between elements such as the controller 202, and the memorycard 326, and the game machine 200. Also, by executing the operatingsystem program, the main CPU 300 performs initialization such asoperation check and so on. The main CPU 300 then controls the opticaldisk reproduction unit 306 to read an application program for a game andthe like from an optical disk. After loading the application program inthe main memory 308, the main CPU 300 executes the program. By executingthe application program, the main CPU 300 controls the GPU 302 and thesound processor 312 following the operator's instructions receivedthrough the operation device 202 and the input/output processor 304 tocontrol image display and production of a sound effect, a music sound,or the like.

The content recommendation system 10 applies two kinds of filters in anoverlapping manner to select songs recommended to a user from among manysongs. FIG. 5 is a figure schematically illustrating first metadatausing a first filter. FIG. 6 is a figure schematically illustratingsecond metadata using a second filter. Any one of them is stored in thedatabase 14 a. As shown in FIG. 5, the first metadata includes a musicID and a plurality of attribute values of attributes. The music ID isinformation for identifying each of many songs recommended by thecontent recommendation system 10 to the user. A plurality of attributessuitable for representing features of each song are prepared in advance,and these attribute values of attributes are given to each song.Regarding attributes and attribute values, in a case where the attributeis a style of song, examples of attribute values include rock music, popmusic, classical music, jazz music, and the like. In a case where theattribute is a year when an artist was born and a year when an artistmade debut, examples of attribute values include 1950, 1960, 1970, andthe like. In a case where the attribute is a year when a song was ratedin hit chart, examples of attribute values include 1999, 2000, 2001, andthe like. In a case where the attribute is a nationality of an artist,examples of attribute values include Japan, America, and the like. In acase where the attribute is a sex of an artist, examples of attributevalues include male and female. Some of attribute values of attributesmay be input as a result of analytic processing performed by a computer.However, most of the attributes are desirably input by a person.

As shown in FIG. 6, the second metadata includes a music ID and aplurality of feature quantities of features. Examples of featuresinclude a tempo of a song, the degree how much a sound having aparticular frequency is included in a song, and the degree how manytimes a particular keyword appears in an explanatory text of a song.These feature quantities may be input as a result of analytic processingperformed by a computer. In the explanation below, a vector whosecomponent is the feature quantity of a feature is described as a featurevector.

In the content recommendation system 10, in view of user's preference, acondition of an attribute value (attribute value condition) issuccessively changed by a random number, so that a song whose firstmetadata satisfies the attribute value condition is extracted from manysongs using the first filter. Subsequently, the degree of similaritybetween a preference vector representing a feature of the song preferredby the user and a feature vector of each song is calculated for eachsong thus extracted. A predetermined number of songs having a higherdegree of similarity are determined, in the descending order of thedegree of similarity, as songs which are to be recommended to the user.Like the feature vector of each song, the preference vector is a vectorwhose component is the feature quantity of a feature as shown in FIG. 6.These preference vectors may be generated by composing the featurevectors of songs preferred by the user. The degree of similarity betweenvectors may be an angle between both of the vectors. In this case, thesmaller the formed angle is, the higher the degree of similarity is.According to the present embodiment, various types of songs aresuccessively presented to the user, and contents continuouslyinteresting to the user can be recommended.

FIG. 7 is an operation flow diagram of the content recommendation system10. First, in the content recommendation system 10, theme data isselected by the user apparatus 12 (S201). The theme data includes atheme template ID and an attribute value serving as a parameter of atheme template identified by the theme template ID. As shown in FIG. 8,the theme template is a template for generating a condition of eachattribute value (attribute value condition) of a song, and attributevalues of attributes specified by the theme template is given asparameters, whereby an attribute value condition of the song isobtained. In FIG. 8, attributes of “year when an artist was born” and“style” are specified, and for example, “1980” and “rock music” aregiven to these attributes, whereby an attribute value conditionindicating that “the year when the artist was born is 1980's, and thestyle is rock music” is obtained. In the above first filter, referenceis made to the first metadata as shown in FIG. 5, and songs satisfyingthe attribute value condition thus determined are selected from amongmany songs.

A plurality of theme templates are generated by a person in advance, andthe theme template ID is information for identifying each themetemplate. As shown in FIG. 9, for each theme template ID, the userapparatus 12 stores the degree of user's preference of the themetemplate identified by the theme template ID (the degree how much theuser prefers it), i.e., theme preference distribution data. The userapparatus 12 generates a random number, and successively selects eachtheme template ID according to a probability based on the degree ofpreference. Then, the attribute specified by the theme templateidentified by the selected theme template ID is obtained, and anattribute value of the attribute in question is selected. Also at thisoccasion, the attribute value of each attribute is selected according toa random number based on the degree of attribute. In other words, asshown in FIG. 10, for all the attributes, the user apparatus 12 storesthe degree of user's preference for each attribute value, i.e.,attribute value preference distribution data. The user apparatus 12generates a random number, and selects an attribute value of theattribute specified according to a probability based on the degree ofpreference. Thereafter, the user apparatus 12 transmits, to the server14, the preference vector and the theme data of the user stored inadvance (S202).

The server 14 applies a change to the theme data received from the userapparatus 12 (S401). In other words, the database 14 a stores themegroup data as shown in FIG. 11. The theme group data includes IDs of aplurality of common theme templates and a group ID. When the server 14obtains a theme template ID included in theme data, the server 14 refersto the theme group data, and selects one of theme template IDs whichbelongs to the same group as the obtained theme template ID based on arandom number. Then, the attribute specified by the theme templateidentified by the theme template ID thus selected is obtained, and theattribute value is determined. At this occasion, as shown in FIG. 12,the database 14 a stores an attribute value conversion dictionaryincluding many pairs of attributes and attribute values, each associatedwith one or more pairs of other attributes and attribute values. Theserver 14 refers to the attribute value conversion dictionary to convertthe attribute value of each attribute included in theme data receivedfrom the user apparatus 12 into the attribute value of the attributenewly obtained. Thus, the server 14 generates another theme data relatedto the theme data received from the user apparatus 12. Thereafter, anattribute value condition is obtained from theme data thus generated.Then, while referring to the first metadata, songs satisfying theobtained attribute value condition are selected from among many songsmanaged by the database 14 a (S402). When the songs are selected in thismanner, songs can be selected in a more unexpected manner, compared witha case where songs are selected simply using the theme data transmittedfrom the user apparatus 12.

Subsequently, the server 14 calculates the degree of similarity betweenthe preference vector received from the user apparatus 12 and thefeature vector of each song selected in S402, and selects apredetermined number of songs having a higher degree of similarity inthe descending order of the degree of similarity (S403). Then, a list ofsongs including music IDs of the predetermined number of songs isreplied to the user apparatus 12 (S404). When the user apparatus 12receives a music list, the user apparatus 12 transmits one of music IDsincluded in the music list to the server 14 (S203), and the server 14reads data of songs identified by the music ID from the database 14 a,and replies the data (S405). The user apparatus 12 plays data of thesong thus replied (S204), and the internal speakers 204 a, 204 a of thetelevision monitor 204 output songs. At this occasion, information suchas the title and the name of the artist of the currently played may bedisplayed on the screen 204 b of the television monitor 204. When thesongs of all the music IDs included in the music list are played asdescribed above, the user apparatus 12 executes the processing of S201again.

Now, the functional configurations of the user apparatus 12 and theserver 14 will be explained. FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram ofthe user apparatus 12. FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram of theserver 14. The functional blocks as shown in these figures are achievedby causing the user apparatus 12 and the server 14 to respectivelyexecute programs. Each program is previously stored in a readableinformation storage medium in the user apparatus 12 or the server 14,and may be installed to the user apparatus 12 and the server 14 via themedium. Alternatively, it may be downloaded from another computer viathe data communication network 18.

As shown in FIG. 13, the user apparatus 12 includes a theme selectionunit 41, a theme preference distribution data storage unit 42, a themepreference distribution data learning unit 43, a request unit 44, anattribute value determination unit 45, an attribute value preferencedistribution data storage unit 46, an attribute value preferencedistribution data learning unit 47, a preference vector storage unit 48,a theme template storage unit 49, a preference vector learning unit 50,an operation unit 51, and a music reproduction unit 52.

First, the theme preference distribution data storage unit 42 is mainlyconstituted by the hard disk drive 334 or the memory 308, and storestheme preference distribution data as shown in FIG. 9. The themepreference distribution data learning unit 43 is mainly constituted bythe main CPU 300 and the memory 308. The theme preference distributiondata is updated according to the contents of operation performed on theoperation unit 51. More specifically, for a predetermined number ofsongs or more included in the music list transmitted from the server 14,processing is performed to increase the degree of user's preferenceassociated with the ID of the template used for generating the musiclist in the server 14, when (1) where s song is played to the endwithout performing a skip operation (positive situation 1) and when (2)a particular operation is performed to indicate that the song ispreferred by the user (positive situation 2). In other words, when thepositive situation 1 or 2 occurs with respect to the song in the musiclist generated by the theme template, the degree of preference of thetheme template is increased. On the contrary, for a predetermined numberof songs or more, processing is performed to decrease the degree ofuser's preference associated with the ID, when (1) playback of the songis interrupted by performing skip operation (negative situation 1) andwhen (2) a particular operation is performed to indicate that the songis not preferred by the user (negative situation 2). In other words,when the negative situation 1 or 2 occurs with respect to the song inthe music list generated by the theme template, the degree of preferenceof the theme template is decreased. The theme selection unit 41 ismainly constituted by the main CPU 300 and the memory 308. The themeselection unit 41 refers to the theme preference distribution datastored in the theme preference distribution data storage unit 42 tosuccessively select each theme template ID according to a probabilitybased on the degree of preference. More specifically, the themeselection unit 41 has a range of random values in association with eachtheme template ID, and the size of the range is set according to thedegree of preference. The theme selection unit 41 generates a randomnumber, and selects a theme template ID associated with the range towhich the random number belongs.

The attribute value preference distribution data storage unit 46 ismainly constituted by the hard disk drive 334 or the memory 308, andstores the attribute value preference distribution data as shown in FIG.10. The attribute value preference distribution data learning unit 47updates the attribute value preference distribution data according tothe contents of operation performed on the operation unit 51 and theattribute values of music data stored in the user apparatus 12. Morespecifically, when any one of the above positive conditions occurs withrespect to a predetermined number of songs or more in the music listtransmitted from the server 14, a pair of attributes and attributevalues which are necessary conditions in the attribute value conditionused for generating the music list in the server 14 are obtained, andprocessing is performed to increase the degree of user's preferenceassociated with the obtained attribute value in the attribute valuepreference distribution data relating to the obtained attribute. On thecontrary, when any one of the above negative conditions occurs withrespect to a predetermined number of songs or more, processing isperformed to decrease the degree of user's preference associated withthe attribute value in the attribute value preference distribution data.

When any one of the above positive conditions occurs with respect to thesong currently played in the user apparatus 12, the first metadata ofthe song in question is obtained from the server 14. Then, processing isperformed to increase the degree of user's preference associated withthe attribute value of the attribute included in the obtained firstmetadata in respective attribute value preference distribution data. Onthe contrary, when any one of the above negative conditions occurs, thefirst metadata of the song in question is obtained from the server 14.Then, processing is performed to decrease the degree of user'spreference associated with the attribute value of the attribute includedin the obtained first metadata in respective attribute value preferencedistribution data.

Further, the attribute value preference distribution data learning unit47 is mainly constituted by the main CPU 300 and the memory 308. Theattribute value preference distribution data learning unit 47 searchesall the music data stored in the hard disk drive 334 and other storagedevices arranged in the user apparatus 12 of the user owned by the user,and obtains the first metadata of each song from the server 14. Then,processing is performed to increase the degree of user's preferenceassociated with the attribute value of the attribute included in theobtained first metadata in respective attribute value preferencedistribution data. By doing so, respective attribute value preferencedistribution data can be made according to the songs owned by the user,and reflect a variety of user's preferences about songs, whereby variouskinds of songs can be recommended to the user. In this case, respectiveattribute value preference distribution data are updated according tomusic data stored in the storage device arranged on the user apparatus12. When the music data of the songs owned by the user are stored inanother computer connected to the data communication network 18 of theserver 14 and the like, respective attribute value preferencedistribution data may be updated according to the music data of the userstored in the another computer.

The theme template storage unit 49 is mainly constituted by the harddisk drive 334 or the memory 308, and stores many theme templates asshown in FIG. 8. The attribute value determination unit 45 is mainlyconstituted by the main CPU 300 and the memory 308. When the attributevalue determination unit 45 receives the theme template ID from thetheme selection unit 41, the attribute value determination unit 45 readsthe theme template identified by the theme template ID from the themetemplate storage unit 49 to check attribute (the name of attribute)specified therein. Then, the attribute value preference distributiondata of each attribute specified from the attribute value preferencedistribution data storage unit 46. Thereafter, the attribute valuedetermination unit 45 refers to the attribute value preferencedistribution data having been read, and selects an attribute value ofeach attribute according to a probability based on the degree ofpreference. More specifically, the attribute value determination unit 45has a range of random values in association with each attribute value,and the size of the range is set according to the degree of preference.The attribute value determination unit 45 generates a random number, andselects an attribute value associated with the range to which the randomnumber belongs.

The preference vector storage unit 48 is mainly constituted by the harddisk drive 334 or the memory 308, and stores preference vector of theuser. The request unit 44 is mainly constituted by the main CPU 300, thememory 308, the input/output processor 304, and the Ethernet 330. Thepreference vector and the theme data are paired, and transmitted to theserver 14. The theme data includes the theme template ID output from thetheme selection unit 41 and the attribute value of each attribute outputfrom the attribute value determination unit 45.

The preference vector learning unit 50 is mainly constituted by the mainCPU 300 and the memory 308, and updates the preference vector based onthe contents of operation performed with the operation unit 51. Morespecifically, when any one of the above positive conditions occurs withrespect to the song currently played in the user apparatus 12, thepreference vector learning unit 50 obtains the second metadata of thesong in question from the server 14. Then, the preference vector isupdated so as to bring the current preference vector closer to thefeature vector represented by the obtained second metadata. On thecontrary, when any one of the above negative conditions occurs, themetadata of the song in question is obtained from the server 14, and thepreference vector may be updated so as to bring the current preferencevector away from the feature vector represented by the obtained secondmetadata.

The music reproduction unit 52 is mainly constituted by the main CPU300, the memory 308, the sound processor 312, the input/output processor304, and the Ethernet 330. The music reproduction unit 52 receives amusic list from the server 14, and transmits music IDs included in themusic list to the server 14 in order. Then, the music reproduction unit52 receives music data corresponding to the music ID from the server 14,and reproduces the music data. The operation unit 51 is configured toinclude the operation device 202. The operation unit 51 is used toinstruct the music reproduction unit 52 to skip a currently-played song,explicitly indicate that the song is a user's favorite song, orexplicitly indicate that the song is a song which is not preferred bythe user.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 14, the server 14 includes a server mainbody 14 b and a database 14 a. The server main body 14 b is arrangedwith a request reception unit 21, a first filter 22 including a themedata change unit 22 a and a music list generation unit 22 b, a secondfilter 23, music list reply unit 24, and a music distribution unit 25.On the other hand, the database 14 a is arranged with a theme group datastorage unit 31, a theme template storage unit 32, an attribute valueconversion dictionary storage unit 33, a first metadata storage unit 34,a second metadata storage unit 35, and a music data storage unit 36.

First, the theme group data storage unit 31 is mainly constituted by thehard disk drive 73 or the memory 71, and stores the theme group data asshown in FIG. 11. The theme template storage unit 32 stores the themetemplate as shown in FIG. 8. The attribute value conversion dictionarystorage unit 33 is mainly constituted by the hard disk drive 73 or thememory 71, and stores the attribute value conversion dictionary as shownin FIG. 12. The first metadata storage unit 34 is mainly constituted bythe hard disk drive 73 or the memory 71, and stores the first metadataas shown in FIG. 5. Further, the second metadata storage unit 35 ismainly constituted by the hard disk drive 73 or the memory 71, andstores the second metadata as shown in FIG. 6. Further, the music datastorage unit 36 is mainly constituted by the hard disk drive 73, andstores data of many songs (music data) associated with identificationinformation of the songs, i.e., music IDs.

The request reception unit 21 is mainly constituted by the processor 70,the memory 71, and the communication interface 76, and receives thepreference vector and the theme data from the user apparatus 12. Thetheme data change unit 22 a is mainly constituted by the processor 70and the memory 71. The theme data change unit 22 a refers to the themegroup data stored in the theme group data storage unit 31, and selectsone of theme template IDs which belong to the same group as the themetemplate ID included in the received theme data according to a randomnumber. Further, the theme template of the selected theme template ID isread from the theme template storage unit 32, and checks the attributespecified by the theme template. Then, the attribute value conversiondictionary stored in the attribute value conversion dictionary storageunit 33 is looked up, and the attribute value of each attribute includedin the received theme data is converted to an attribute value of eachspecified attribute. The theme template ID thus newly selected and theconverted attribute value of each attribute are given to the music listgeneration unit 22 b as theme data.

The music list generation unit 22 b is mainly constituted by theprocessor 70 and the memory 71. The music list generation unit 22 brefers to the first metadata stored in the first metadata storage unit34, and selects a song attached with the received attribute value ofeach attribute. Then, the music list generation unit 22 b outputs a listof music IDs of these songs.

The second filter 23 is mainly constituted by the processor 70 and thememory 71, and receives a list of music IDs from the music listgeneration unit 22 b, and receives the preference vector from therequest reception unit 21. Then, the feature vector stored in the secondmetadata storage unit 35 is read in association with each music IDincluded in the list, and the degree of similarity between each featurevector and the preference vector is calculated. Then, the songs aresorted by the degree of similarity, and a predetermined number of songsare selected in the descending order of the degree of similarity. Then,a list of IDs of the songs thus selected is output. The music list replyunit 24 replies the thus obtained list to the user apparatus 12.

The music distribution unit 25 is mainly constituted by the processor70, the memory 71, and the communication interface 76. The musicdistribution unit 25 receives the music ID from the music reproductionunit 52 of the user apparatus 12, reads the music data stored in themusic data storage unit 36 in association with the music ID, and repliesthe music data to the user apparatus 12.

The content recommendation system 10 as described above applies thefirst filter 22 and the second filter 23 in an overlapping manner toselect some of many contents, and causes the user apparatus 12 toreproduce and output the selected contents in order. The first filter 22selects songs according to attribute value conditions successivelygenerated by the theme selection unit 41, the attribute valuedetermination unit 45, and the theme data change unit 22 a. The secondfilter 23 selects songs according to the degree of similarity betweenthe feature vector of each song and the preference vector of the user.Therefore, various songs can be recommended to the user, compared with acase where songs are selected simply using a preference vector. Inparticular, since the attribute value condition is determined based on arandom number, songs can be recommended to the user in an unexpectedmanner. Further, the first filter 22 extracts some of many songs, andthereafter, the processing of the second filter 23 is executed on someof the songs. Therefore, the amount of calculation necessary forrecommending songs can be reduced.

Further, the theme data are generated upon stochastically selecting atheme template according to the theme preference distribution data andstochastically selecting an attribute value according to the attributevalue preference distribution data. Therefore, various kinds of themedata can be generated according to the user's preference. Since songsare selected using these various kinds of theme data, various kinds ofsongs can be recommended to the user. Further, the theme data changeunit 22 a uses the theme group data and the attribute value conversiondictionary to change the theme data received from the user apparatus 12to another theme data. Accordingly, the first filter 22 can select songsaccording to the theme template and the attribute value which are notyet stored in the user apparatus 12. Therefore, the degree ofunexpectedness and diversity in song selection can be increased.

Further, in the content recommendation system 10, the attribute valuepreference distribution data are updated according to the attributevalues of the songs owned by the user. Therefore, even though the userhas various kinds of preferences in music, various kinds of songs can berecommend according to the various kinds of preferences.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. Variousmodifications may be applied. For example, the content recommendationprocessing may not be shared by the user apparatus 12 and the server 14.One computer may select songs recommended to the user. On the contrary,the content recommendation processing may be shared by many computers.In the explanation above, the attribute value preference distributiondata are updated based on the contents of operation performed with theoperation unit 51. However, the attribute value preference distributiondata may be updated based on only the songs owned by the user.Alternatively, instead of using the second filter 23, songs selected bythe first filter 22 may be recommended to the user as they are.

Alternatively, first, the server 14 may select songs with the secondfilter, and thereafter, the user apparatus 12 may further select songsfrom among the selection result (narrowing down) with the first filter.FIG. 15 illustrates this modified operation flow diagram. In the contentrecommendation system 10 according to the modification, first, the userapparatus 12 transmits user's preference vector to the server 14 (S501).

The server 14 calculates the degree of similarity between the preferencevector received from the user apparatus 12 and each feature vector ofall or some of the songs stored in the music database 36, and selects apredetermined number of songs having a higher degree of similarity inthe descending order of the degree of similarity (S601). Then, a musiclist including the music IDs of the predetermined number of songs isreplied to the user apparatus 12 (S602). When the user apparatus 12receives the music list, theme data are selected (S502). The method forselecting theme data is the same as FIG. 7. Then, the user apparatus 12obtains an attribute value condition based on the theme data selected inS502. Thereafter, while referring to the first metadata, songssatisfying the obtained attribute value condition are selected fromamong the songs included in the music list received from the server 14,and the music IDs of the songs thus selected are included in the musiclist (S503). Thereafter, finally, one of the music IDs included in themusic list is transmitted to the server 14 (S504). Then, the server 14reads data of the song identified by the music ID from the database 14a, and replies the data (S603). The user apparatus 12 reproduces thedata of the song thus replied (S505), and the internal speakers 204 a,204 a of the television monitor 204 output music. When the songs of allthe music IDs included in the music list are reproduced in this manner,the user apparatus 12 executes the processing of S201 again. When theprocessings are thus performed, the load of the processings of theserver 14 can be reduced.

Alternatively, selection of songs based on the first metadata may beshared by the user apparatus 12 and the server 14. For example, when theattribute value condition includes a plurality of AND conditions(product set), the server 14 may select songs satisfying some of theconditions, and the user apparatus 12 may select songs satisfying theremaining conditions from among the songs included in the selectionresult. The user apparatus 12 may determine, based on the remainingconditions, the order of reproduction of the songs included in theselection result given by the server 14 or the songs further satisfyingthe remaining conditions.

Alternatively, songs reproduced by the user apparatus 12 or the server14 may exclude songs which the user does not like. In a case where anoperation is performed with the operation device 202 to explicitlyindicate negative evaluation during reproduction of a song (particularoperation indicating that the user does not like the song) or anoperation is performed to give an instruction of pausing reproduction,the user apparatus 12 causes the music ID of the song to be included ina disliked music list stored in the hard disk drive 334. When the userapparatus 12 receives the music list from the server, and the music listincludes a music ID of the song listed in the disliked music list, thesong may not be allowed to be reproduced. Alternatively, when thedisliked music list of each user is managed by the server 14, and amusic list is generated in the server 14, the music list may not includethe music ID of the song listed in the disliked music list.

Instead of generating the disliked music list, a classifier (SVM:Support Vector Machine) may be used to determine whether the user likesor dislikes each song. For example, classifier software is installed tothe user apparatus 12. In a case where an operation is performed withthe operation device 202 to explicitly indicate negative evaluationduring reproduction of a song (particular operation indicating that theuser does not like the song, or an operation is performed to give aninstruction of pausing reproduction, or in a case where an operation isperformed with the operation device 202 to explicitly indicate favorableevaluation during reproduction of a song (particular operationindicating that the user likes the song), or the song is played untilthe end of the song without interruption, this fact is input to theclassifier, so that the classifier learns the user's preference. Then,for each song having the music ID included in the music list transmittedfrom the server 14, the classifier may determine whether the user likesa song or not, and the song disliked by the user may not be allowed tobe reproduced.

The user apparatus 12 may be achieved with various kinds of hardware.For example, the user apparatus 12 may be achieved with the portablegame machine. FIG. 16 illustrates an external appearance of a portablegame machine. The portable game machine 400 reproduces digital contentssuch as moving images, still images and music, and executes a gameprogram and the like. Each content is read from an external storagemedium detachable from the portable game machine 400, or is downloadedvia data communication. The external storage medium according to thisembodiment is a small optical disk 402 such as a UMD (Universal MediaDisc) and a memory card 426. The optical disk 402 and the memory card426 respectively are mounted on a drive device (not shown) provided inthe portable game machine 400. The optical disk 402 is not only capableof storing music data and still image data but also storing moving imagedata such as a movie having a relatively large data size. The memorycard 426 is a small memory card which can also be detachably installedin a digital camera or a cell phone. The memory card 426 primarilystores still image data, moving image data, audio data, and the like,generated by the user by using another device or data exchanged withother devices.

The portable game machine 400 is provided with a liquid crystal display404, operation unit members such as an arrow key 416, an analog stick418, buttons 420, and the like. The user holds the right and left endsof the portable game machine 400 with both hands. The arrow key 416 orthe analog stick 418 is operated primarily by the left thumb to specifyup/down/left/right movement. The buttons 420 are used primarily by theright thumb to provide various instructions. Unlike the arrow key 416and the buttons 420, a home button 436 is provided at a position notlikely to be pressed by any finger when the left and right ends of theportable game machine 400 are held with both hands, thereby preventingerroneous operations. The liquid crystal display 404 displays a menuscreen and a reproduction screen of each content. The portable gamemachine 400 is also provided with communication functions achieved via aUSB port and a wireless LAN, for data exchange with other devices usingthe USB port and the wireless LAN. The portable game machine 400 isfurther provided with a select button 440, a start button 438, and thelike. The start button 438 is used, e.g., when the user instructs theportable game machine 400 to start a game, start reproduction ofcontents such as a movie or music, or pause the game or the playback ofthe movie or music. The select button 440 is used to select a menu itemdisplayed on the liquid crystal display 404.

FIG. 17 illustrates an internal circuit configuration of the portablegame machine 400. The portable game machine 400 includes a controlsystem 540 including a CPU 541, peripheral devices, and the like, agraphics system 550 including a GPU 552 and the like for drawing animage in a frame buffer 553, a sound system 560 including a SPU (soundprocessing unit) 561 and the like for generating music sounds, soundeffects, and the like, an optical disk control unit 570 for controllingan optical disk 402 storing an application program, a wirelesscommunication unit 580, an interface unit 590, an operation input unit502, a bus connected to each of the above units, and the like.

The sound system 560 includes an SPU 561 for generating, e.g., musicsounds and sound effects under the control of the control system 540, asound buffer 562 in which waveform data and the like are recorded bythis SPU 561, and a speaker 544 for outputting, e.g., music sounds andsound effects which are generated by the SPU 561.

The SPU 561 has an ADPCM decoding function for reproducing sound dataencoded with ADPCM, a reproduction function for generating e.g., soundeffects, by reproducing waveform data stored in the sound buffer 562,and a modulation function for modulating and reproducing waveform datastored in the sound buffer 562.

The optical disk control unit 570 includes an optical disk device 571for reproducing data such as programs recorded in an optical disk, adecoder 572 for decoding recorded data attached with, e.g., ErrorCorrection Code (ECC), and a buffer 573 increasing the speed of readingdata from the optical disk by temporarily storing data read from theoptical disk device 571. The decoder 572 is connected to a sub-CPU 574.

The interface unit 590 includes a parallel I/O interface (PIO) 591 and aserial I/O interface (SIO) 592. These are interfaces connecting thememory card 426 and the portable game machine 400.

The operation input unit 502 provides an operation signal according touser's operation to the CPU 541. The wireless communication unit 580wirelessly communicates via an infrared port or a wireless LAN. Underthe control of the control system 540, the wireless communication unit580 transmits data to another apparatus and receives data from anotherapparatus directly or via a wireless communication network such as theInternet.

The graphics system 550 includes a geometry transfer engine (GTE) 551, aGPU 552, a frame buffer 553, an image decoder 554, and a display unit404.

The GTE 551 has a parallel computing mechanism for executing multiplecomputations in parallel. The GTE 551 performs high-speed calculation ofcoordinate conversion, light-source calculation, calculation of matrixand vector, and the like in response to calculation request given by themain CPU 541. Then, based on the calculation result of the GTE 551, thecontrol system 540 defines a three-dimensional model as a combination ofbasic unit figures (polygons) such as a triangle and a quadrangle, andtransmits a drawing instruction corresponding to each polygon fordrawing a three-dimensional image to the GPU 552.

The GPU 552 draws a polygon in the frame buffer 553 according to adrawing instruction given by the control system 540. Further, the GPU552 performs flat shading, Gouraud shading for determining the color inthe polygon by interpolating the color at the apexes of the polygon, andtexture mapping for pasting textures stored in a texture region of theframe buffer to the polygon.

The frame buffer 553 stores an image drawn by the GPU 552. This framebuffer 553 is constituted by a so-called dual port RAM. The frame buffer553 can perform, at a time, drawing operation of the GPU 552, transferfrom the main memory 543, and reading operation for display. This framebuffer 553 includes not only a display region for outputting as a videooutput but also a CLUT region storing a Color Look Up Table (CLUT) whichis looked up by the GPU 552 to draw a polygon and the like and thetexture region storing textures. These CLUT region and the textureregion are dynamically changed according to changes of display regionand the like.

Under the control of the control system 540, the display unit 3 displaysan image stored in the frame buffer 553. Under the control of the CPU541, the image decoder 554 decodes image data of still images or movingimages stored in the main memory 543 and compressed and encoded byorthogonal transformation such as discrete cosine transform under thecontrol of the CPU 541, and stores the decoded image data to the mainmemory 543.

The control system 540 includes the CPU 541, a peripheral device controlunit 542 for performing, e.g., control of direct memory access (DMA)transfer and interruption control, the main memory 543 made of a RAM,and a ROM 544. The ROM 544 stores programs such as an operating systemand the like for controlling the respective units of the portable gamemachine 400. The CPU 541 controls the overall portable game machine 400by reading the operating system stored in the ROM 544 to the main memory543 and executing the operating system having been read. The userapparatus 12 can also be achieved using the portable game machine 400 asdescribed above.

The user apparatus 12 can also be achieved using a general-purposepersonal computer. FIG. 18 illustrates an internal circuit configurationof the general-purpose personal computer.

The general-purpose personal computer includes, as its principalcomponents, a main CPU 600, a graphics processing unit 602, an inputunit 604, an output unit 605, a drive 614, a main memory 608, and a ROM610. The main CPU 600 controls signal processing and internalconstituent elements based on programs such as an operating system andan application. The GPU 602 performs image processing.

These units are connected with each other via a bus line 622. The busline 622 is further connected to an input/output interface 632. Theinput/output interface 632 is connected to a storage unit 634 such as ahard disk and a nonvolatile memory, an output unit 605 including adisplay and a speaker, an input unit 604 including a keyboard, a mouse,a microphone, and the like, a peripheral device interface such as USBand IEEE1394, a communication unit 630 including a network interface fora wired or wireless LAN, and a drive 614 for driving a removablerecording medium 626 such as a magnetic disk, an optical disk, or asemiconductor memory.

The main CPU 600 controls the overall operation of the personal computerby executing the operating system stored in the storage unit 634.Further, the main CPU 600 executes various kinds of programs read fromthe removable recording medium 626 and loaded to the main memory 608 ordownloaded via the communication unit 630.

The GPU 602 has functions of a geometry transfer engine and a renderingprocessor. The GPU 602 performs drawing processing according to adrawing instruction given by the main CPU 600, and stores a displayimage to a frame buffer, not shown. The GPU 602 converts the displayimage stored in the frame buffer into a video signal, and outputs thevideo signal. The user apparatus 12 can also be achieved with thepersonal computer as described above.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a memory configuredto store: metadata of content, wherein the metadata includes firstmetadata and second metadata; a plurality of templates, wherein eachtemplate of the plurality of templates is associated with the firstmetadata of the content; and a degree of preference of a user for eachtemplate of the plurality of templates and for each attribute value of aplurality of attribute values for attributes of the content, wherein theattributes correspond to the first metadata; and circuitry configuredto: select a template from the plurality of templates based on thedegree of preference of the user for each template of the plurality oftemplates; select at least one attribute value of an attribute which isassociated with the selected template, based on the degree of preferenceof the user for each attribute value of the plurality of attributevalues; select a list of content from the content based on the selectedat least one attribute value; filter the selected list of content basedon the second metadata that correspond to a plurality of featurequantities of features of the content; and transmit the filtered list ofcontent to a user apparatus via a communication network.
 2. The systemof claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to obtain thedegree of preference for each attribute value of the plurality ofattribute values for the attributes of the content.
 3. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to update thedegree of preference for each attribute value of the plurality ofattribute values stored in the memory.
 4. The system of claim 1, whereinthe user apparatus: displays the filtered list of content on a displayscreen of the user apparatus, wherein the user apparatus is associatedwith the user; and selects at least one content from the displayed listof content based on a selection request received from the user.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:receive at least one random number from the user apparatus; and selectthe template from the plurality of templates based on the received atleast one random number.
 6. A method, comprising: metadata of content,wherein the metadata includes first metadata and second metadata; aplurality of templates, wherein each template of the plurality oftemplates is associated with the first metadata of the content; a degreeof preference of a user for each template of the plurality of templatesand for each attribute value of a plurality of attribute values forattributes of the content, wherein the attributes correspond to thefirst metadata; selecting a template from the plurality of templatesbased on the degree of preference of the user for each template of theplurality of templates; selecting at least one attribute value of anattribute which is associated with the selected template, based on thedegree of preference of the user for each attribute value of theplurality of attribute values; selecting a list of content from thecontent based on the selected at least one attribute value; filteringthe selected list of content based on the second metadata thatcorrespond to a plurality of feature quantities of features of thecontent; and transmitting the filtered list of content to a userapparatus via a communication network.
 7. The method of claim 6, furthercomprising: obtaining the degree of preference for each attribute valueof the plurality of attribute values for the attributes of the content.8. The method of claim 6, further comprising: updating the degree ofpreference for each attribute value of the plurality of attribute valuesstored in a memory.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein the userapparatus: displays the filtered list of content on a display screen ofthe user apparatus, wherein the user apparatus is associated with theuser, and selects at least one content from the displayed list ofcontent based on a selection request received from the user.
 10. Themethod of claim 6, further comprising: receiving at least one randomnumber from the user apparatus; and selecting the template from theplurality of templates based on the received at least one random number.11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon,computer-executable instructions, which when executed by a computer,cause the computer to execute operations, the operations comprising:metadata of content, wherein the metadata includes first metadata andsecond metadata; a plurality of templates, wherein each template of theplurality of templates is associated with the first metadata of thecontent; a degree of preference of a user for each template of theplurality of templates and for each attribute value of a plurality ofattribute values for attributes of the content, wherein the attributescorrespond to the first metadata; selecting a template from theplurality of templates based on the degree of preference of the user foreach template of the plurality of templates; selecting at least oneattribute value of an attribute which is associated with the selectedtemplate, based on the degree of preference of the user for eachattribute value of the plurality of attribute values; selecting a listof content from the content based on the selected at least one attributevalue; filtering the selected list of content based on the secondmetadata that correspond to a plurality of feature quantities offeatures of the content; and transmitting the filtered list of contentto a user apparatus via a communication network.
 12. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 11, further comprising obtaining thedegree of preference for each attribute value of the plurality ofattribute values for the attributes of the content.
 13. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 11, further comprisingupdating the degree of preference for each attribute value of theplurality of attribute values stored in a memory.
 14. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the user apparatus:displays the filtered list of content on a display screen of the userapparatus, wherein the user apparatus is associated with the user, andselects at least one content from the displayed list of content based ona selection request received by the user.
 15. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 11, further comprising: receiving atleast one random number from the user apparatus; and selecting thetemplate from the plurality of templates based on the received at leastone random number.